OMG WICKED AGAIN!!!

This show DOES NOT GET OLD. Seriously. It was SO much fun to see it again, especially with a different cast. And we had AWESOME seats compared to where I was the last few times! We were about halfway back on the main floor, which is REALLY good because the Paramount isn't all that big (especially if you compare it to the OCPAC). I could actually see expressions on faces this time! :P I've already reviewed most of the cast (see: San Diego and Orange County) so I'll skip the rehash - Sebastian Arcelus is an AWESOME Fiyero, and Alma Cuervo rocks as Madame Morrible - and get to the different stuff.

Random stuff:
-Got pics on my cell phone of the Wicked truck outside the theater and the curtain/Time Dragon before the show! Wicked truck, The Stage
-...and then I walked into a fire hydrant.
-We were giggling during the show, 'cause muldy remarked that our Boq looked like McKay, so then for the rest of the show, that's how I saw him. :P
-I totally never noticed before, but there's one guy in the ensemble in the second half of Dancing Through Life that's wearing a skirt. :P There's also one ensemble guy in "No One Mourns the Wicked" whose costume/wig totally makes him look like Johnny Depp's version of Willy Wonka.
-The lighting in the finale of "Defying Gravity"? AMAZING. I've always thought it looked so cool, and it was fun to be there with someone else who appreciated that! :D
-After the catfight scene, when Glinda throws Elphie's hat back to her, Shoshana totally didn't catch it... and was clearly grinning and/or giggling as she bent down to pick it up.
-There's no real piano in the orchestra pit, only keyboards. It makes the intro/end of "As Long As You're Mine" in particular sound pretty sucktastic.

And I just have to say that there was this annoying lady next to me (no, not muldy, on the other side :P) who seemed to have like a never-ending case of the hiccups. And literally at least once every five seconds, for the WHOLE duration of the show, she'd make this little noise like she was trying to hold a hiccup in. And it drove me NUTS. Argh.

Both Elphaba and Galinda were different performers than I'd seen before. Both actresses have played their respective roles on Broadway, too, so that was VERY cool. The rundown on each:

Shoshana Bean as Elphaba:
I gotta say: meh. I didn't really think she was all that great. She had a few cute quirks, but I just felt like she missed Elphaba by a mile. She is, by far, the girly-girl-est Elphie I've ever seen. In a way it's cute because it makes Elphaba look very natural and very much like you or me, but in the end I really didn't care for it because I think Elphaba's whole character was really lost. She has a beautiful singing voice, but unfortunately I think it lends itself to radio better than stage. I would like her versions of the songs if this was a CD or something, I think. Her singing, while very pretty, didn't really have much emotion behind it. Her "As Long As You're Mine" was well-sung, and I definitely think she did a FANTASTIC job on "No Good Deed" when she really started putting emotion into the show. But the end of "I'm Not that Girl" was really a *headdesk*er for her. She did NOT have the vocal range to hit that last note. And rather than adjust and sing it a bit differently, she tried to hit it anyways... and was WAY too high. She awkwardly slid her pitch down mid-note, but it was pretty clear that she really couldn't hit it well at all. Bleh. And the whole thing where she cracked when picking up the dropped hat struck me as off... while I understand that poop happens and people break character, it wasn't really all that funny and it struck me as something that she should have been able to hold back. In such a serious scene, it was rather distracting to me. Funny to the audience, yes, but at the same time striking me as rather unprofessional. Bottom line? Yeah, in my list of favorite Elphabas at the moment, she's at the bottom. (For those curious, the list I've seen enough of to decide on so far is Julia, then Idina, then Shoshana)

Megan Hilty as Glinda:
LOVE. She was funny and adorable and so sincere in her performance. I'm totally torn on my favorite Glinda now. I love both Megan and Kendra equally, but for totally different reasons. Megan was an AMAZING actress, and she was funny and cute without turning Glinda into a joke. She was funny when it was time to be funny, but in the serious scenes she played it straight. FANTASTIC. Kendra, on the other hand, was FAR funnier because of her hyperness and hilarious sense of comedy, but I think she was lacking in the sincerity department. So yeah, overall, I consider the two of them equal for different reasons.

Christopher Russo as The Wizard:
The only understudy we had at this showing. I thought he was pretty good! A little young-looking to be playing the Wizard, but I really love his singing. And from where we sat, he totally looked like what Alan Ruck would look like with gray hair. :P

After the show, we headed out to the stage door in the hopes of autographs, although being a matinee and considering that it was raining, we weren't sure how many we'd see. But within five minutes of us getting out of the theater, Shoshana was out! OMG, she must have RACED to get all that makeup off. Seriously. She was kinda "eh" at the stage door as well - she signed the autographs, but she didn't really seem to be appreciative of any "thank you for the wonderful show" or "we really loved it" comments that she was getting. She kinda gave everyone a really insincere "thanks" and pushed past on her way down the street. Megan Hilty, though, was right behind her, and a STARK contrast. Seriously, Megan was a class act. SO gracious about autographs and photos, and very talkative with people. BELLEVUE GIRL! WOOO! As we were leaving, we heard her shouting at Shoshana to wait up, asking why she was leaving her behind, and telling her that she was still meeting people. I'm obviously looking at this from an outsiders' perspective, but I got the impression that they were running out to someplace nearby (there's a lot of shops and cafes and such on the surrounding blocks) and while Shoshana was trying to make a break for it whereas Megan was wanting to take the time to meet with the people who'd been at the show. Just an observation.

All in all? AWESOME. And I really, really need to see this one again. Badly. :P (Because apparently three times in two months just isn't enough...)

muldy and I just spent the evening watching Lion King, Lion King 2, and Aladdin... and tomorrow, it's off to Vancouver!! EEEE!